Premier Ford says Ring of Fire access roads to be complete by 2031

Premier Doug Ford says the roads to the Ring of Fire region will be complete five years ahead of schedule, with shovels in the ground this spring.

He made the announcement Monday morning, saying local Indigenous groups will be the ones to lead the project but other First Nations leaders are speaking out against it.

“With President Trump’s tariffs causing so much uncertainty, we don’t have a second to waste,” says Ford.

At a major mining conference in Toronto Monday, Premier Doug Ford announced he’s planning to get shovels in the ground by this June – moving up the government’s timeline to build roads into northern Ontario’s mineral rich region – the Ring of Fire.

“Folks, I’m not even happy with the five years, let’s accelerate it more,” says Ford.

Under the government’s new timeline, a road connecting Webequie First Nation to the yet-to-be-built mine will be open by November 2030 — four years ahead of schedule; while a road from Marten Falls First Nation will be completed a year later.

A road connecting the two is set to open in 2031, five years ahead of the original plan.

The premier says he’s not planning to use his controversial Bill 5 to get it done.

“We don’t need it when we have great partners,” Ford says.

Bill 5 gives the government the power to fast-track projects it deems critical – like mining – by side-stepping environmental assessments and municipal bylaws.

Monday, Ford signing a deal to ensure that two of the First Nations in the Ring of Fire region are full economic partners and benefit from job opportunities associated with development — especially young people in the fly-in communities.

READ MORE: Proposed Ring of Fire mine in northern Ontario clears another regulatory hurdle

“This is extremely important that this continue to be community based, community led for First Nations,” says Bruce Achneepineskum, Chief of Marten Falls First Nation.

But not all First Nations in or near the Ring of Fire are on board.

“Premier Ford said Canada is not for sale. So that’s our message: our resources are not for sale,” says Gary Quisess, Chief of Neskantaga First Nation.

Leaders of the Neskantaga First Nation joined NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa at Queen’s Park Monday — saying they were not consulted and didn’t agree to the project that would deeply impact their ancestral lands and river system.

The community has been under a water boil advisory for more than 30 years.

“It’s pretty clear here and with other First Nations that I speak with, that there is going to be some resistance,” Mamakwa says.

The province didn’t say exactly how much the more than 450 kilometers of road will cost.

They are projecting 7,000 total jobs will be created over the next 30 years.

Political analyst with McMaster University, Peter Graefe says that may be good news in the short term, but won’t help Ontario’s job market weather the uncertainty of U.S. tariffs.

“People are feeling the pinch in southern Ontario with the closing of auto plants, troubles in the steel sectors,” says Graefe.

“It’s not by creating a number of construction jobs in northern Ontario and opening a few mines that you’re really going to deal with that widespread economic malaise.”

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